lucy and friends
Sitcoms, or situation comedies, were first developed for radio, but today they are typically found on television. They feature a group of characters in humorous situation, which normally take place in the home or workplace. Situation comedies originated in the United States,but today they are some of the most popular programs around the world.
The sitcom that revolutionized television in the 1950 in the United States was I Love Lucy,starring Lucille Ball and her husband, Cuban band leader and sometime actor, Desi Arnaz. It was the first scripted program ever to be performed in front of a studio audience, and to be recorded rather than broadcast live. I Love Lucy set the pattern for situation comedies for years to come. Ball and Arnaz played a married couple similar to themselves, but lucy always got involved slapstick and physical humor.
In recent years, two sitcoms from the United States have become popular all over the world: Seinfeld and Friends. Perhaps the greatest success of the show of the fact that there was no one star at the center of the plot and the action. The stories revolved around the entire cast, not one actor and actress alone.
Seinfeld (1989-1998) starred Jerry Seinfeld, stand-up comic who played himself. the other actors on on the show played, well, somewhat unusual character: Kramer, George, and Elaine. The show concentrated its plots around small, everyday things, like talking clothes to the dry cleaners, getting tickets for an important game,arguing over parking spaces, and using answering machines. These were trivial things, but ones with which the audience could identify. As Jerry Seinfeld said about his program, it's was "a show about nothing "
Friends (1994-2004) followed Seinfeld's success, and it present similar everyday events and relationships. The show lasted for ten years. In 2004, the final episode of Friends was watched by over 50 million viewers in the United States. What made Friends so popular? It was the fact that the six friends were just that-friends. And it wasn't just on the show. It real life, the cast of friend were pals. Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox-Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Leblanc, Mathew Perry, and David Schwimmer became very close. And on camera, that real-life chemistry showed. No matter what happened, no matter who did what, or who said what,Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross were friends. Americans could relate to the series and to the cast. It didn't need fancy location or elaborate spacial effects. All it needed was the friend.